By HARVEY ROSEN When it comes down to the wonderful world of sports, we all have our preferences. Some of us prefer hockey over baseball, while others lean towards football over basketball.

And let’s not overlook boxing, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and the more gory variety known as mixed martial arts where nobody pulls their punches either.Then there are the more gentle souls who enjoy relatively less violent entertainments such as tennis and curling. And let’s not forget the dart throwers, poker players, golfers, serious marathoners and daring parachute jumpers.By now you’re probably asking yourself, where exactly is the author, in his dotage, going with the aforementioned multitudinous examples? I hear you and I feel your pain.You see, whether or not you are going to wile away your time watching television sports is going to depend to a large extent upon the commentators whose job is to deliver the goods.Are they well prepared and do they have a pleasant voice and what about their cadence? Do they articulate well? Then there is the dress and appearance of the broadcaster. Were they hired because they are former athletes and allegedly know the game quite well, but weren’t sufficiently gifted to share their knowledge with their audience.In my humble opinion, allow me to introduce my favorite sports journalist, ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN, whom I am certain is one of the very best in the business today. If you’re a hockey fan you will no doubt recognize the handsome brute on this page.The 47-year-old sports journalist currently serves as a hockey reporter for Sportsnet, as an insider for the NHL Network, and as a regular panelist on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.He began his broadcast career for Toronto sports radio station “The Fan 590” in 1994 and did play-by-play for Toronto Raptors games on both radio and television and reported on Toronto Blue Jays games in 1998.Freedman has also been a freelancer for the London Free Press and the Toronto Star. The Jewish whiz was awarded the Telemedia Reporter of the Year award in 1996. Friedman for The Score network, before joining CBC Sports in 2003.At the CBC, Friedman was a reporter for Hockey Night in Canada, served as a studio host for the final two seasons of the CFL when CBC was still televising games, as well as Toronto Raptors games on that network. He also participated in the CBC’s Olympic Games coverage and continues to appear regularly on The Fan 590 (now Sportsnet 590).After Rogers Media acquired exclusive national media rights to the NHL and began producing Hockey Night for CBC, Friedman was hired by Sportsnet to continue his role.In 2016, Friedman participated as a commentator during CBC’s coverage of diving and swimming events at the 2016 Summer Olympics, replacing an ailing Steve Armitage. Friedman also did play-by-play of volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics.I met Elliotte two years ago at a Jets’ game in Winnipeg and discovered that he was very approachable and almost modest to a fault.I flat out said to him “Do you know how good you are?” He gave me a somewhat puzzled look and appeared to be waiting for some kind of punch line to a joke I was about to lay on him and he replied: “Really?” as if he had never before received a compliment on his work. “Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say.” he said as he extended his hand.

POST PATTER:JACOB MICFLICKIER is his name and hockey has been his game ever since the turn of the century. To wit: In 2001 when he joined the United States Hockey League (USHL) to play for the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Winnipeg skater is now 33 years of age and has played in seven different leagues with 14 teams during the course of his career.The left-handed shooter, who is 5’, 7” tall, and tips the scales at 180 lbs., is in every sense of the world a travelling man.The fleet forward starred for four seasons in college with New Hampshire, and in the tough American Hockey League he was no slouch when he played 250 games (Springfield, Rochester, Albany, Charlotte, and Hershey).Then, Jacob took his act overseas where he played in the KHL with Russia, Switzerland, and in the Swedish-A League. At the moment he is playing in the Swiss-A League with the Biel hockey club and has 12 goals, 14 assists and is exhibiting his usual strong two-way game sporting a plus/minus figure of plus-12.

The writer, a Jewish Winnipegger, is a former school teacher, and covers football and hockey for Canadian Press and Broadcast News.Keep in touch with Sporting Touch. Send news about Jewish sports to Harvey Rosen, 360 Scotia Street, Winnipeg, Man., R2V 1W7, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.